


Break the Seams

by BadRomantic



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Descriptive Violence, Diego hates Reginald Hargreeves, Fighting, Five and Klaus being best friends, Five has a fear of heights, Five has a speech tendency just like Diego, Gun Violence, Klaus is so nostalgic bc little five..., Knives, Leonard and Klaus have something going on but nobody not even then know, Leonard is NOT a jerk in this fic, Leonard is a good kid, Spoilers, Stabbing (light), Story begins with Five waking up after Klaus revives him, siblings being siblings, tua spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-11-18 07:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18116033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadRomantic/pseuds/BadRomantic
Summary: Five wakes up with no memory past his 13th birthday. He also wakes up to the fact that he’s being hunted, his siblings all have “real” names now, and that he is now the youngest brother.Great.





	1. Chapter 1

Five woke up gasping for air. It felt like he’s been holding his breath in his sleep. He snapped open his eyes, taking in all the lights in his face. Where was he? Why wasn’t he in his bedroom?

“Oh, Holy shit, it worked!” Exclaimed an unfamiliar voice.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I’m so _sorry,”_ Cried a female voice, “I don’t know what happened--”

“Just calm down, let him breathe.”

Five slowly sat up. He was surrounded by people-- two girls and three men. One of the men was _monstrous._ Five stared at him for a while before jerking his attention to the man sitting closest to him. His cheeks were hollowed just a bit and he had this sneaky grin on his face.

“How you feelin’, old man?”

Five squinted at him suspiciously. Who were these people in his home?

The man with hollow cheeks made a reach for him and Five quickly space jumped away. These people must have broken into his home. Robbers.

“You guys really picked the wrong house.” He sneered from the bar counter. Number Two always stuffed his knives in the cupboards, so Five took the liberty of stealing one out while they gawked.

“Hey, what the hell do you-?” Started the gruffiest of the men, his eyes widening just as Five threw the knife. He wasn’t as skilled as Number Two, but he got the job done, clearly. It landed right in the biggest man’s shoulder.

“That’s actually kinda fun.” Five mused, “I should do that more.”

Kudos to Number Two, he supposes. The guy does have the most fun power.

“What the _hell?”_ One of the girls angrily snapped. Five decided to get the rest of his siblings downstairs, because as much as he knew he was better than them, he also knew that Number One would definitely be the only one able to take on the muscle man.

So he jumped straight into Number Ones room.

“Number one!” Five called, stumbling a bit when he realized just how _fast_ his space jumping went. Wow. He really didn’t recall that happening yesterday. Number One wasn’t in his room.

“Fuck…” He mumbled, jumping to Number Two’s room next. Number Two’s power could be just as helpful. “Number tw… Where the fuck is everybody?”

Five bristled. Did they leave him again?

He jumped all around the house, shouting for his siblings-- hell, even Pogo, but nobody was responding.

“What the fuck!” Five hollered.

“What’s the matter, Number Five?”

Five whipped around, relief flooding him when he realized it was just his mom. He rushed to grab her by her hand, pulling her along with him in hopes that he could hide her before the robbers found them. “We gotta hide, Mom.”

“Why’s that?” She smiled sweetly at him, blissfully unaware of the danger in their living room.

“We have intruders. Where is everybody?”

“Downstairs! I believe they were all heading to your father’s office.”

Five paled. They were _never_ allowed in Dad’s office.

“Are we in trouble?” Maybe he finally figured out that he and Number Four were sipping alcohol.

Grace gave a soft laugh, “No, of course not!”

Five didn’t believe her. But, he trusted her. So he held tightly onto her hand and space jumped just outside of Father’s office. He glanced wearily at Grace, contemplating asking her to open the door for him, but decided that this was a dire situation. There were robbers in their house.

 _Dumb robbers,_ He thought.

Five threw open the office doors, “Dad, we need to…” His voice died in his throat. The robbers were _in his father’s office._

He nearly gave up then and there. What the fuck? Where is everybody?

The man he stabbed puffed out his chest, looking ready to pummel him into the ground. He opened his mouth, but Five spoke first.

“No, just wait there.” He ordered flatly, “Something’s not right.”

“What’s not right, honey?” Grace asked.

“You said they were in Dad’s office!” Five glared at his mom.

“They are.” She pulled that moviestar smile and looked at the burglars, “Hello, children.”

“Five!” Snapped the gruffy man from before. Five just noticed that he had a scar down the side of his head. Huh. “What the hell, man?”

Five squinted at him. “Number Two?”

Number Two’s shoulder’s squared.

Five glanced between them all, eyes landing on the pretty black woman that stood protectively besides the muscle man. “Number Three?”

Three tipped her head quizzically.

Five went through the numbers in his head, finally realizing that the muscle man was Number One. The only one he couldn’t find was Number Six.

“Where’s Number Six?” He looked up to his mom.

She smiled, “Don’t you remember dear?”

“Oh no…” Number Four mumbled.

“Oh no?” Number Two rounded on Four, “What the hell does that mean, Klaus?”

Five wrinkled his nose at the name. _Klaus?_

“I think when I brought him back… I… I must have fucked up or something--”

“He doesn’t remember us.” One whispered not-so-quietly.

“I remember you!” Five snapped, startling them all to look at him, “I just don’t get why you’re all older now. And why I woke up in the living room. So I’d suggest someone tells me now before I throw another knife into Number One’s other shoulder.”

Number One squinted at him.

Number Seven fidgeted with her hands, a nervousness in her eyes that he wished he understood. Number Seven and he were really close. Why was she avoiding his gaze?

“It’s a lot to explain…” Number Two warned.

“Try me.” Five challenged.

* * *

 

It was a lot. He sat in his Father’s chair, messing around with a pen while he tried taking in all of the information they told him. He came from the future to stop some apocalypse, has _killed people,_ and regularly had (has?) people chasing after him. Oh yeah, and he _died._

“This fucking sucks.” Five said flatly.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Number Four said, “I was kinda hoping I’d resurrect you with all of your memories. Uh, Ben says you might get them back in a while? We’ll see.”

“Ben?” Five asked.

“Yeah, y’know, Ben!”

He stared.

Everybody deflated a bit. “Oh… You weren’t there when we got names.”

“You have names,” Five’s eyes narrowed, “Number One, Number Two-”

“No,” Number Two cut him off, _“Real_ names, Five.”

Five shifted a bit. Oh. He didn’t know they disliked the names they already had. He liked his name, he wasn’t sure why they didn’t.

“I’m Luther.” Number One gave a weak wave.

Number Three touched her chest, “Allison.”

“Diego.”

“Klaus.”

“V...Vanya.”

“And… Number Six-”

“Ben.” Five cut Klaus off, a sinking feeling filling his gut. The realization was finally hitting him about why he couldn’t find his brother. Ben was gone.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Diego said, “Ben’s-”

“Don’t tell me he’s in a better place.” Five snapped. He hated hearing people say that. He stood up from the chair, feeling the urge to storm off and hide in his room, but everything suddenly felt bigger than his nuisance tantrums. He felt like he needed to hurry up and grow up so that he could be equal to his siblings.

 _How do I do that?_ He asked himself.

“Where’s Dad?”

“Dead.” Klaus snorted.

“Like the bastard deserves to be.” Diego added.

Five laughed lightly, “Yeah, I guess I should have assumed that. If he was alive, we wouldn’t be allowed to step foot in here.”

“That’s what I said!” Klaus exclaimed.

“Five,” Allison reached a hand out, touching his shoulder and Five winced away in pain. She recoiled her hand, as if she had been burnt.

“Uh…” He cleared his throat, “Sorry. That hurt, for some reason.”

Allison’s eyes narrowed, “Take off your jacket.”

He would have fought her on it had he not also been curious. He tossed his jacket aside, then his vest and undershirt until all he had on was his tank top. He instantly knew why her touching his shoulder hurt. Under a bandaid (that Allison cautiously peeled off) there was a line of stitches.

“Oh.” He blinked. That’s going to leave a _cool scar._

“Holy shit… why the fuck didn’t you tell us-?” Diego cut himself off with a grunt, “Nevermind. Is it infected?”

“No, it looks alright.” Allison said, doting on him in a manner that Five wasn’t used to from his sister. It was hard to think of this woman as his sister when he was used to being able to see over her head.

“I’m sure if I was an spy, I know how to do a few stitches.” Five defended himself, “I’m not a kid.”

They all shared a look, as if this wasn’t the first time he’s said that.

“Hey…” Five glanced at the ground, then looked back up, “Can we go eat? I’m hungry.”


	2. Chapter 2

They all ended up at their favourite donut shop. Five was more than excited to be there, even if his siblings kept sharing weird looks with one another (and then pretended like he didn’t catch them). He climbed up on a seat, kicking his legs while the rest of his siblings sat at the counter.

“I assume our lovely, famous sister will pay for us all?” Klaus asked, pulling a puppy dog look at Allison.

“What?” Allison scrunched up her face in confusion, “Don’t you have any money?”

Klaus looked to Five with a giddy laugh, “She thinks I have _money!_ It’s nice to have high expectations again.”

Five cracked a grin, shrinking a bit when he realized his siblings gawked at him as if he grew an extra head. Why did the mood dip suddenly? He didn’t even say anything, this time!

“Hello, sorry for the wait,” A pretty, young waitress said, glancing at them all before looking at Five, “What can I get you, young man?”

“Oh, A coffee!” Klaus exclaimed.

“Ew,” Five scrunched up his nose, “Are you trying to poison me? I’ll take a plain donut and milk, please.”

While the lady scribbled down his order, Five did a quick glance at his siblings. From their knowing smiles and interested tilts of their heads, he could gather that he  ordered something old Five would have never had.

 _Old?_ He thought, _Am I the old Five, or the new Five?_

When the waitress left, he searched for Vanya. Maybe she would fill him in? They were the closest, obviously.

“Hey, Five,” Diego caught his attention first. “So… what’s the latest you remember?”

“Turning thirteen.” Five shrugged, “Exciting last-day to remember. I kinda wish I left the day before I-” He widened his eyes and clicked his mouth shut. Oh. Maybe he shouldn’t mention that.

“The day before you what?” Allison asked.

“Nothing.” Five said quickly.

“Ooh?” Klaus grinned sharply at him, “Dear Five, are you holding back a secret?”

“No!” He lied, crossing his arms, “This is stupid. I really thought you all would have matured better than this.”

“What does that mean?” Luther asked, taking his bait so smoothly it almost made Five sag in relief.

“Uh-uh! What did you do, Five?” Klaus nudged his side, “C’mon, it can’t be that bad! We’re all adults now. S’not like we’d even remember what you did.”

“It’s… not memory-sensitive.” Five glanced wearily at Diego.

Diego noticed that, and _fuuck_ , he is so screwed right now.

“You better fess up before I toss a knife into those exposed knees.” Diego threatened, waving a knife threateningly.

Five clicked his tongue, “It’s nothing, really, like, so much nothing you’d laugh...  _really.”_

Diego tipped his head.

“Iwastheonewhobroketheknifemomgotyou.” Five rushed out quickly, shrinking a bit.

“You WHAT?” Diego exclaimed, standing up from his chair. Five quickly jumped behind Klaus-- he always saved his tail when Diego was after him-- and tugged sharply at his brother’s jacket.

“It was an accident!” Five rushed out.

“You broke the knife mom got me? What the fuck, man!”

“Yeah, but, technically it got you a better one. It was dull, anyway.”

“Not the point, _Five!”_

Klaus seemed to snap back to reality when Five gave an even sharper tug on his jacket and ducked behind him as Diego advanced.

“Diego, you wouldn’t punch a kid, would you?” Klaus asked, stiff arming Diego. Five could hear the laugh on Klaus’s words, as if he thought this was all hilarious.

“I would. I will!” Diego declared.

“Ok, lemme rephrase,” Klaus dragged out Five from behind him, “Would you rather hit this poor, innocent boy… _or…”_

“Hey, you dick!” Five snapped, “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“... Or what?” Diego asked.

Five quickly looked to Allison for help, but she simply shook her head with a smug smile.

“Or…” Klaus seemed to enjoy this big-brother ride too much. Five made a mental note to cut him down to size tomorrow. “You can use the real weapon we all know Five fears… a Hargreeves hug…”

Five blanched a bit before regaining his composure, “I’m fifty-eight! You can’t hug me!”

He _hates_ these hugs. They’re so stupid, and Klaus used to give them to everybody when they were younger, simply because he hit his growth spurt faster than them all. Especially Five.

“This is child abuse!” Five screamed just as Diego squeezed him in, lifting him up _way_ too high for comfort above the ground. “Let go, idiot!”

“I can’t believe you kept that a secret for so long, you brat.” Diego, despite his grumbling, was grinning while Five struggled against this _completely inhumane_ form of punishment. He kicked a bit, landing a particularly hard one against Diego’s leg. His best efforts were rewarded with an even tighter squeeze and Diego raising him up _higher._

 _“OKAY!”_ Five screamed, “I’m sorry! Put me _down,_ asshole!”

Diego flat out dropped him, and Five shrieked. When he landed on his feet, he glared sharply at his brother and bristled at the soft laughs from Allison and Luther.

“I can’t believe you’re still scared of heights!” Klaus exclaimed gleefully, “Where was that fear when you were an old man?”

“Old people don’t fear anything.” Five said confidently, “Dad never feared anybody.”

The air seemed to grow tight. Five wondered if he said something wrong.

“Yeah, you’re right there, bud.” Diego said, a flash of irritation crossing his face, “He wasn’t afraid to do anything.”

“Guys…” Vanya spoke for the first time since they got there, and it honest to God startled Five. They all turned to her, and she shared a look with the rest of Five’s siblings that he easily picked up.

_Don’t talk about it._

_What are they hiding?_ Five thought, frowning to himself before climbing up onto his seat again. He really wishes he wasn’t thirteen. He wants to be able to understand the conversations his brother and sisters were having. He wishes he at least remembered his life as a super spy.

They did some smalltalk while they ate. Apparently Vanya had a concert coming up, and Five eagerly said that he could like to come. Vanya seemed to relax a bit at that. He even got Diego to tell him about his life as a solo superhero. He already knew Diego had the right idea with his life choices.

“Being a superhero is…” He hesitated on the word, _“Mon-u-men-tum.”_

Klaus gave an excited gasp, “He’s doing it! He’s doing the word thing!”

“What word thing?” Five looked to his brother with a frown, “What am I doing?”

“When we were younger, uh, when you’re you, right now, I mean… You would always do this pause-- _adorable, might I add--_ when you tried out words you read in the dictionary.” Klaus got a dreamy look in his eyes, “It makes me so nostalgic.”

Five looked down at his milk glass for a bit. He’s never noticed that before. Does he do it often?

“Son of a bitch...!” He exclaimed quietly. Wow. He thought he was smoother than that. “Do I do that a lot?” He asked, looking around at his siblings.

“I can’t remember a mission where you didn’t.” Luther said, sipping his soft drink.

“Yeah, come to think of it…” Diego tipped his head, “Maybe it was twice a day…”

“What?” Five’s jaw almost dropped.

“Maybe _six_ times…” Diego glanced at him slyly, a smirk crossing his face.

 _Oh, he’s teasing me._ Five bristled and pushed his brother’s shoulder, “You all suck. I’m never trusting any of you again. I’m moving in with Vanya, and we’re going to start a band.”

“Wait, why doesn’t Vanya count? She laughed! Just silently!” Klaus said.

“She’s my favourite.”

“Start a band?” Allison scoffed playfully, “What on earth do you play? You’re tone deaf!”

“I’ll play the guitar.” Five said seriously, “There’s a _tre-men-dous_ lack of guitar players in today's society and I think, with Vanya’s superior violin skills, we can make it big in New York. I’ll get signed, and Vanya will go rogue.”

“Better keep the future to yourself, buddy,” Diego teased, “You might be giving away too much.”

Five just laughed and took another bite of his donut.

One thing he’s really glad about is the fact that everything seemed as normal as it could be. His siblings acted a little weird about certain subjects, but everything else? It was great. He’s glad he can still laugh with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter, but I think it's a soft read!!
> 
> If you would like more please say so!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "His ability is space-time manipulation. It allows him to travel through space and time, and *switch objects around instantly*." - Number Five's Wiki. Important to know for this chapter!

Everything warm surrounded Five. He made a growly hum in the back of his throat, reaching blindly out to reach for the alarm clock in his bedroom. If he woke up on his own, that means he woke up before the alarm had a chance to ring.

When his hand connected with nothing, he groaned. He was hoping he’d get to relax a little longer before he had to open his eyes and get ready for the day.

 _At least today’s my day of training,_ He thought. Five especially loved training days, it’s when Father and he got the opportunity to test just how hard he could push himself. He may have whined about it before, but he still loved the burn in his muscles after a particularly long day of spacial jumps.

He sat up in his bed, shoving aside the blanket around his legs and peeled open his eyes. The sun filtered through his bedroom window, spotting his room with thin silhouettes. Five looked for his alarm clock, jerking in alarm when he realized it was _three hours_ past his usual alarm.

 _I’m late._ Five thought, _Father is going to flay me!_

He didn’t bother showering. He quickly threw on his scholarly clothes and blinked downstairs, right in front of Father’s office. He raised his hand to knock on it a few times, then stepped back and stood as stiff as a board. He’ll need to take his punishment like a grown up.

He waited a few seconds. Then a few minutes. Five shifted worriedly, anticipation eating him alive. Was Father truly so upset? He remembers Number Four waking up late once and it wasn’t this bad.

 _This is because he expects more of me,_ Five scolded himself, _I’m better than this._

“Father?” He tested the waters. Perhaps he hadn’t heard him knock?

“Five?”

Five whipped around, gawking at the a pretty black woman as she approached him. Who’s she? Is she the new Mom?

“Five, why are you standing in front of Dad’s door?”

No, that’s _Allison._ Instantly, the memory of yesterday was settling in. He forgot about it all; Father’s death, him being a spy, the apocalypse…

He cleared his throat awkwardly, “Uh… Nothing.”

Allison lifted a brow.

“Shut up,” Five snapped, “I was thinking, that’s all.” He blinked to the kitchen, trying his hardest to play off his embarrassment.

He can’t believe how far behind he is compared to his siblings. He’s almost sure that none of them mix up their memories so bad. He bristled a bit, getting himself a glass of water and chugging it down. He needs to keep track of this new reality.

Perhaps writing it all down would work? He used to write all of his mathematics in journals… could he look around for one of his unfinished ones?

 _That’s the plan for today,_ Five decided, _right after I convince Luther to help me train._

He cannot let himself get soft. Just because Father was gone does not mean he can neglect his duty as a member of The Umbrella Academy. He’ll be damned if he allows himself to grow so dim. He set his cup in the sink and blinked around the house in search of his brother. He ended up finding Luther, Allison, and Diego in the living room.

“Speak of the devil…” Luther mumbled not-so-quietly when Five appeared.

“Hey, Five,” Diego greeted, looking a little nervous, “How’s it goin’?”

Five ignored him. “Number One, I need you to assist me in training.”

Luther started, Allison face twisted in confusion, and Diego immediately stepped up. He looked the most upset about his request.

“Excuse me?” Diego asked.

“Just because Father is dead doesn’t mean I can grow _neg-li-gent_ on my training.” Five lifted a brow at Diego, “I’m surprised, Number Two. You were the most intent on training.”

Diego’s eyes narrowed, “That’s not true. I wanted it over with. You, on the other hand, cannot get through your head that things aren’t the same anymore. Dad’s dead, Five. You can grow up, now.”

Five bristled.

“What _Diego_ means…” Allison emphasized Diego’s name, “Is that… you’re already capable of whatever you want to do, Five. You don’t need to train anymore.”

“Bullshit.” Five bit out.

Luther seemed to know better than to comment on any of this. He just gave a confused, hopeless look at Allison while Diego tensed in his rage. It was as if his brother couldn’t get the concept of responsibility through his head.

“Why do you want to train?” Allison asked, looking as though she wanted to kneel to his height. Thank God she didn’t, or else Five would have seethed even more than he already was.

“Because I can do better.” Five said simply, “We’re not _kids,_ Number Three. We’re being with supernatural powers.”

“God, you sound just like the bastard.” Diego snarled, “It’s no fucking surprise you ended up just like him.”

Five wondered what he meant by that. He decided not to take offense to it, simply because he didn’t think anything Diego was trying to taunt him with really mattered. He doesn’t remember his future, so why should he care? It’s subjective. He can change it all he wants.

So he just rolled his eyes and glared at Luther, “Are you going to help me, Number One, or stand there while awaiting Number Three’s orders? I thought _you_ were the leader, here.”

Luther’s eyes widened and he puffed out his chest.

“Hey,” Allison raised her hand. Five flinched away from it, taking a quick step back. He realized a little too late that she raised it to push Luther back. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice it. “We have names, Five. We’re not numbers anymore.”

Five suddenly realized why she emphasized Diego’s name. He blinked in shock before nodding quickly.

“Sorry.” He glanced sheepishly at Diego and Luther, “I’ll work on that.”

Diego seemed to relax, but his eyes were watching him as if he expected Five to throw another one of his knives.

“Five,” Luther finally seemed to find his tongue, “You don’t need to train anymore. First off, I’m not Dad. I don’t know what he did or how he did it. Second off, you are already the best version of yourself… power-wise.”

Five sneered angrily, “No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!” Diego exclaimed, “How can you say that? You’ve literally time traveled!”

“No, I haven’t,” Five felt like he was going to tear out his hair, “That was old me! Or, future me. Whatever! Point is, _he_ did that. Not _me.”_

Diego mumbled something, just snarky enough for Five to get really angry about it. He didn’t hear the words, but he figured he was being mocked for something he said.

“What was that?” He challenged, storming right up to his brother, “Go on, speak up, Number Two.”

Diego bristled, “I said maybe you should have never learned it in the beginning! You weren’t ready for it then, and you’re not ready now!”

Five sucked in a gulp of air. That bothered him so _much._ Father always told him he wasn’t ready, wasn’t _mature enough,_ and right now? He sure as hell didn’t feel mature around his siblings. He felt like he’s being talked down to, and the funny thing is that they have every right to do it. They’re older. He’s not.

He literally is not mature enough compared to his siblings.

“Five,” Allison reached out to him, but he blinked out of the living room and to the donut shop they went to last night before she could touch him.

He’s gets so _tired_ of his siblings sometimes.

* * *

He ended up staying for a couple of hours, hidden away in a booth farthest from the window. The waitress seemed to take pity on him, offering him a free donut and glass of milk. He graciously accepted it.

“Y’know,” She said, “I used to get into fights with my parents all the time…”

“Not my parents.” Five said, sipping his milk while she sat across from him with her own cup of coffee. “Siblings.”

“Oh… even worse.” She offered him a sympathetic smile, “What did they do?”

“They think I’m not ready for something,” Five bristled at the reminder, “but I _am._ I’ve done it before, I just don’t… remember how I did it. And If I could try again…”

“Is it dangerous?” She asked.

Five blinked at her, “Well, sure, but what isn’t?”

She seemed genuinely amused by his answer. She nodded her head, looking off distantly, “Yes, I suppose that’s true… maybe they’re scared.”

Five snorted, “Scared that I’ll pass them up.”

“Or scared you’ll hurt yourself.”

He paused. Did they care that much? They were very dysfunctional… it wasn’t as though they have ever properly communicated to each other how they’ve felt. Something nagged at him that the possibility of them being jealous was more likely, but he was a little hopeful that it was the opposite.

“Just something to think about.” The waitress smiled, standing up from her seat, “If you decide to leave, I’ll have a fresh batch of donuts done in five minutes. Why don’t you wait, and I’ll send you off with one?”

Five nodded slowly, “Yeah… thanks.”

She beamed and walked away.

He spent the next seconds downing the rest of his milk. A bit of him felt bad for ditching his family like that, but another half of him figured it was justified. Just as he set the empty cup down, the front door of the donut shop jingled and in walked a very big man and a stiff, broad-shouldered woman.

Five watched them as they glanced around the shop before locking eyes with him. They stared for a while. Five was beginning to think the two were on drugs before they stormed right up to his booth and scooted in on the other side of it, across from him.

“... Afternoon.” Five lifted a brow, “Can I help you?”

“This is how this is going to go.” The woman spoke up, her eyes glimmering with triumph, “We’re either going to cause a big ruckus _or…_ you can come with us willingly.”

Five couldn’t contain his eye roll and just bit into the last of his donut.  

“Listen lady, you’re trying to kidnap the wrong kid.” He warned her, “I’ve got six siblings who’ll not only kick your ass, but-”

There was the unmistakable click of a cocked gun under the table.

He looked between the two curiously, scooting a bit to peak under the table and then look back up.

“So, you’ve got a gun.”

The man glanced awkwardly at the girl, “Cha-Cha… You sure this is him?”

“... To be honest, no, not anymore…” Cha-Cha pursed her lips, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Hargreeves.” Five said.

“First name?”

“It’s foreign.”

“Try me.”

“Five.”

Cha-Cha and the man shared a look with each other. Five was pretty sure he was missing the big secret.

“If you’re trying to kidnap a kid, I don’t think I’m the best pick.” Five warned again, “And… the gun is a nice touch, but I can already tell you’ll miss me.”

“Elaborate.” The man said with a skeptical look on his face.

Five smiled at him, snarky and full of contentment. He could already tell the two were intimidated by it. Just in time, the Waitress came back with a donut.

“Oh,” She blinked, “Are these your…”

“Parents.” Five said, “Right, Mom? Dad?”

Cha-Cha bristled while the man looked a little put off.

“Oh, okay!” She smiled, “He’s a great kid.”

Five took the donut, said his goodbye to her, and slyly hid the donut under the table. The two adults across from him looked more worried than confused, which he sort of liked.

“Hey,” Five tilted his head, “Didn’t you have a gun?”

“What game are you playin’ here, kid?” The man grumbled, beginning to raise his hand up from under the table, “Of course I have a--....”

“Hazel,” Cha-Cha stared dumbfoundedly, “Why are you holding a donut?”

Five raised his hand, waving the gun playfully at them and offered another one of his best smiles.

Hazel stared at the gun, mumbling a quiet _oh shit_ while Cha-Cha tensed in her seat.

“How’d you do that?” Cha-Cha demanded.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Five shrugged, “Now, I’m going to take this with me. If any of you try to follow me home, I’m going to trade the next thing on your person with a poisonous snake. We cool?”

“Jesus fuck.” Hazel whispered, “This is not what I pictured Five to be…”

Five paused a bit. What did he say?

“Yeah,” Cha-Cha grumbled, “No kidding…”

“You two know me?” Five asked, furrowing his eyebrows and tilting his head quizzically. Who were these people? “How?”

“Don’t you know who we are?” Hazel’s eyes turned owlish, “We met you last Christmas party! The whole team was there. _Geesh_ … way to rub salt into the wound…”

“Christmas party?” Five echoed. And then it clicked. These two know about his past life… these two worked with him. They were spies. He quickly set the gun back on the table, leaning in excitedly, “You two are spies?”

Cha-Cha spoke up, “Yes, we’re spies. I take it you… you _don’t_ remember The Commission…?”

“No, not a bit of it.” Five said, “I died. Got ressurected. It’s a whole story… what’s The _Com-miss-ion?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me how you felt about this chapter and if you would like more!!


	4. Chapter 4

Hazel and Cha-Cha explained everything to him. Cha-Cha seemed to love her job a lot more than Hazel, because she rarely said anything bad about The Commission and what they do. As far as Five could tell, they were the ones that kept the peace in the timeline. He felt a little proud about the fact that he got to do a job like that… he wonders why he left.

“How do you get from timeline to timeline?” Five asked, sipping a new glass of milk that Hazel so generously bought him, “Is that a specific power everybody has?”

“Power? No.” Cha-Cha scoffed at that, “We have briefcases. You had one of your own, last I checked… Though, I do think you left it in 1963.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“You really don't remember anything?” Hazel asked, eyeing him a little strangely, “Like… at all? You’re just like a 13 year old kid now?”

Five bristled, “A 13 year old kid who could kick your ass.”

“Where are your parents?” Hazel asked, “Were they glad to see you after so many years?”

Five tensed a bit before shrugging. “Dad’s dead and Mom doesn’t really act any different… she’s a robot, though, so what can you do?”

“I’m sorry to hear about your loss.” Cha-Cha said, a tip to her voice that Five didn’t exactly trust, “I’m sure it must have been hard on you and your family…”

“No, not really.” Five clicked his tongue, “But that’s personal information.”

Cha-Cha cracked a smile, as if he said something funny. “Yes, I guess it is. How about we take you to see our suitcase? I’m sure you would enjoy traveling back to The Commission with us, wouldn’t you? We’ll have you back in time for supper.”

Five could feel his shoulders tense up, indignation making him sit straighter and set his milk glass aside. “I’m not some kid. I don’t worry about being back in time for _supper.”_

Hazel waved his half-eaten donut around, “No, of course not! We just wanted you to rest assured we weren’t going to keep you from your family.”

“Then rest assured that I am going back to them _immediately.”_ Five stood up, “Thanks for the talk. I think I have enough information on The Commission… although…” He eyed them a bit.

His curiosity was already eating him alive. To be honest, he wanted to sit there the entire night and talk about their job, but he’s already been here for several hours. He’s sure his family is getting worried… at least, he hopes they are.

 _Do they care about where I went?_ Five asked himself.

“Can I come find you again? If I want to learn more?” He asked.

Cha-Cha opened her mouth, a flash of irritation coming to her face. Five prepared for her to berate him, but Hazel raised his hand and offered a warm smile. “Of course, Five. Here, how about we give you our card? You can call us anytime.”

Hazel held out a small, thick card and Five took it after a moment's hesitation.

“Thanks.” Five eyed the gun on the table, “Uh… you can keep that.”

“Thanks.” Cha-Cha said flatly, making a reach for it. While she did that, he spacial jumped back to his bedroom.

* * *

“You let him _go.”_ Cha-Cha rounded on Hazel the moment Five left. He guessed that he deserved it. After all, they had their target right in front of them.

“He’ll find us again.” Hazel said confidently, “Besides… maybe The Commission would like to know about Five’s new memory-wipe. This could change things.”

“Yeah, or it _won’t.”_ Cha-Cha’s voice had a bite to it, “If it comes down to it, we need to kill that kid, Hazel. Whether or not he remembers.”

“He’s just a kid…” Hazel sighed tightly.

“A kid who can jump into any timeline he wants and mess up our lives.” Cha-Cha’s hand rested on his back, “Now c’mon. We got a boss to answer to.”

* * *

Five _wasn’t_ avoiding his siblings. He was more mature than that. What he was doing was simply glancing into rooms and seeing if anybody was in them.

Okay, fine, he’s avoiding his family. He feels like he left things weird, especially with Diego. What else could Five do? Diego obviously felt a certain way about him, and he doesn’t understand _why._ It’s not like he had personally done anything to upset him recently, and he’s pretty sure he apologized for not using their new names.

 _Why did they want new names?_ Five asked himself while he made himself a marshmallow-and-peanut-butter sandwich, _our names were already fine! I like my name… I couldn’t imagine being called something like Joe._

Normal names were boring and that was simply the fact.

Nobody bothered him while he ate his sandwich. He hid in the kitchen, sitting on the counter and eating silently while straining his ears to hear his siblings. The house was oddly quiet… did they leave him again?

 _Guess I deserve it after leaving them,_ He mused to himself, _maybe they’re at that donut shop._

It _would_ be funny if they happened to miss each other.

When he finished the sandwich, he ended up roaming the house. He gravitated to his Father’s office, interested in his old journals. Each one was numbered, pertaining to each of his children.

The first journal had the least pages filled out. Five finished reading it in ten minutes, and only got as much information as he already knew. There were a few words he didn’t understand, but he stole a spare book inside his father’s desk and wrote in the blank spaces between the words. The second journal had a lot written in it, almost all of it psychoanalyzing Diego to the point where Five wasn’t sure if he knew his brother anymore.

He decided to pocket that book.

The rest of the journals were filled with more psychoanalyzing and words he didn’t understand. He wondered if a few of them were made up, like _gestalt_ and _zealot._ He scribbled them down.

“How do you even say them?” Five grumbled, frowning to himself.

“Say _what?”_

Five hurriedly slapped the book shut, snapping his eyes up at Allison. She huffed, walking into the room (followed by Diego) and threw her hands while she spoke.

“Where were you?” She demanded, “We called the police, we called Vanya, _everybody._ Do you understand how scary it was knowing you might have disappeared again?”

“Not cool.” Diego butted in.

Five stared at them, then shrugged and looked back down at the books surrounding him. He didn’t understand what they meant by _again,_ but he thinks that as long as he didn’t, he was okay.

“I’m fine and I didn’t disappear, so don’t worry about it.” Five glanced back at them.

“That’s not the point!” Allison huffed.

“Everybody keeps saying that!” Five could feel the urge to blink away coming up, but in favour of yelling at his siblings, he ignored it. He tossed aside the book he was scribbling in, standing up to go to his full height, “Get to the point or walk out that door.”

Allison’s eyes widened and she looked ready to kill. Diego mumbled something at her. It must have relaxed her, because she crossed her arms and huffed rather than launched herself at him.

“Listen.” Diego pointed at him and it took everything in Five’s self-control to not slap away his hand, “We’re just trying to protect you.”

“I don’t _need_ your protection.”

“Yeah? Say that to the few killers running around town after you.”

Five faltered slightly at that, but quickly caught ground. “What makes them different from the robbers or traffickers we’ve dealt with before? It’s not like _they_ cared if they killed children or not…”

Diego shook his head, “They’re specifically targeting _you,_ this time. And it’s not to steal money or trade blackmarket limbs, it’s to kill you.”

“But what did _I_ do?” Five asked.

Diego seemed to lose his momentum at that. He glanced to the side, then huffed sharply, “I don’t know. You wouldn’t tell us besides the simple _save the world.”_

 _Oh, it’s that type of_ simple, _huh?_ Five thought with a stifled sigh.

“So Five, you cannot just… ditch like that. Not again.”

“I just got so mad…” He wondered vaguely if Diego even knew it was _his_ fault he left, “I’ll try. How’s that?”

“Better than nothing.” Diego relented, patting him on the shoulder a little to strongly and ditching the room. Before he left, he smiled at Allison, “How hard was that?”

“Yeah, well, it’s easier talking to a kid when you are one.” Allison scoffed back at him.

Five just rolled his eyes and plucked back up the books he was reading. He was going to leave to his room to read them all… he wanted to compare words he didn’t understand to his dictionary.

“Look, Five, we were just-”

“I know.” Five cut her off smoothly, balancing the books in his arms, “You were worried, you thought something bad happened to me, you figured _oh no, our youngest brother is out in the scary world!_ Right?”

Allison took a breath in. Her silence confirmed his conclusion.

“I’ll try better, okay Number Th-- _Allison?”_ Five tried to play off his slip up with him clearing his throat.

“That’s all I ask.” She said, a bit of relief taking in her tone, “Thank you, Five.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short... but necessary.
> 
> Tell me how you like it!! Find me on tumblr @ gentlemenpaws if you have questions!


	5. Chapter 5

After spending the entire night reading, Five was very worn out for the next day. A part of him contemplated throwing away his sleeping schedule, but he decided against it in favour of reading more into the journal father kept on Klaus.

What surprised him was that Klaus had _multiple_ journals on him, all of them completely filled. There were more words in there that he didn’t understand and aspects of what Father thought he could do that he wasn’t sure on. Five was exhausted from reading for so long, however. He decided that it would be best if he got something to eat quick.

He staggered a bit when he spacial jumped into the kitchen, where the rest of his siblings stood, crowded around the counter.

Strange. Why were they all there?

“What’s up?” Five asked.

“Oh _shit!”_ Klaus exclaimed, “Uh, _Hey,_ Five, _remember when I told you there was a family meeting?”_

Ah, so Klaus forgot to tell him.

“Yeah, sorry, It escaped me.” Five lied smoothly, looking at Klaus and hurried along to sit beside him, “Fill me in.”

Klaus glanced at him proudly before speed whispering, “Well, Allison was talking about how we should take turns nannying you-”

“That is _not_ what I said!” Allison exclaimed.

Five frowned to himself, “Like a buddy system?” He asked.

Everybody seemed relieved, as if they expected him to shoot down their plan right away.

“Yes, exactly.” Allison said, “It’s temporary, I promise!”

Five decided to let them get it out of their system before he spoke again, since he could see that nearly everybody had something to say.

“Besides, it gives us time to spend together too.” Klaus jumped in, “And Vanya made an excellent point that I totally forgot.”

“Um… I was just saying that, maybe, you would feel safer with us around? I know you don’t like… talking about your feelings.” Vanya’s soft voice nearly sold Five on the idea, but he quickly reminded himself why he didn’t want people around him at all times.

What if he went to visit Hazel and Cha-Cha again? And where did the babysitting end? It was bad enough they thought he couldn’t take care of himself.

“It’s a smart tactic, too.” Diego added on, “If those two in the masks show up again, we’ll get them.”

“Masks…?” Five echoed.

“They wore masks.” Luther seemed a little desperate to control the situation, as if not being the leader for a few minutes was killing him, “The people who wanted to kill you. Which is _also_ why I think we should develop this system for you; nobody knows who or what we’re dealing with.”

“Ah, I see.” Five stifled a yawn, “Well, what does Six have to say about it?”

It took a second for him to realized he asked if his dead brother had a reason. He cleared his throat, a sense of sadness dawning on him. He forgot Six was gone.

“I’m sorry,” He said, “I forgot.”

“Ben says he thinks it’s a _great_ idea.” Klaus said quickly, “Don’t worry about it, Five. He’s glad to be included in the conversation.”

Five wondered if Klaus pretended to talk to Ben or if he actually had said something.

 _Ben thinks it’s a good idea… so is it?_ He felt like he would disappoint Ben if he didn’t follow his advice. He felt like he was obligated to do it now, since his brother was dead, and it may very well be his actual opinion on the matter.

_No. Ben would also want me to stay true to myself._

Yeah. Besides, fuck Ben for dying before he could say goodbye.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but no.” Five shrugged his shoulders loosely, “It’s dramatic, and it’s only coming up because of what happened yesterday. I don’t plan to leave without telling someone again, and I don’t think having Diego follow me around town is a smart idea. Especially since Diego was the reason I left last time.”

He climbed off the seat, ignoring the flooding protest of his siblings. All of them seemed to want to talk over each other, and he wasn’t interested in it. So he blinked to the living room and collapsed on the couch.

He had originally planned to fall asleep, but Mom’s voice brought him out of it just before he dove into a dream.

“Darling, why don’t you sleep in your own room?”

“Too far.” Five whined, “Too tired to go.”

“Should I get Luther to pick you up?”

 _“God no.”_ Five sat up sharply, taking in the concerned look on Grace’s face. Why was she upset? “What’s wrong, mom?”

“How long did you sleep?”

Five considered lying, then sighed. “I didn’t sleep.”

“Why?” Grace sat beside him, “Do you need thicker blankets?”

“No, I was reading all night.” Five paused, considering asking his Mom to help him with the words before shaking it off, “Dad’s journals… there’s a lot.”

“Why were you reading Dad’s journals?”

Five jumped in fright. He looked back at Diego, who stood stiffly beside the couch. He swallowed the words that laid on his tongue, recalling how bitterly Diego had related him to their father. Was Diego going to mention it again?

He wishes he understood what happened, but he figured that if he asked Diego, he’d only get half of the truth.

“They were about us.” Five fought the urge to look down, “I think we deserve to know what he thought.”

“And?”

Five was too smart to act stupid about his question. He was also smart enough to know that if he brought up half of the things Father had written… Diego would request the books be burned pronto.

“I’m surprised, Two,” Five held his ground, “I didn’t know you could _read.”_

“That’s it, you little shit,” Diego advanced, drawing out a knife. Five used his powers to switch it out with a spoon from the kitchen.

“Misplace your knives again?” He teased, giving a sharp exclaim when Two glared hot daggers at him. “Oh, shit!”

He jumped into the kitchen, scrambling to find Four before Two got to him again.

“FOUR!” Five exclaimed, grabbing his brother’s arm and jerking sharply. He could hear something slosh and land on the floor, but he ignored it in favour of survival, “Two’s doing it again!”

“Aw heck,” Four whined, “That was a good cocktail.”

As if on cue, Two stormed into the kitchen, followed briskly by Mother.

“I’m going to kill him.” Two declared, “Move, Klaus.”

“Favourite brothers don’t let other brothers kill me.” Five reminded Four.

“You can’t keep pulling that on me!” Four whined, “I can see dead people, not stop knives-- is that a _spoon?_ Can you even throw that?”

Two tossed the spoon, which knocked Five pretty hard in the head. He supposed that was a fair blow.

“He can throw it.” Five rubbed the side of his skull, glaring at Two.

“Boys!” Mother exclaimed, “That is enough rough-housing! Diego, you apologize. Five, you apologize as well.”

“What’d I do?” Five asked incredulously.

“You called Diego by the wrong name _and_ said he couldn’t read.” Grace eyed him pointedly.

Five paused, trying to recall the moment to himself. Did he call Diego by the wrong name?

“Sorry for the name thing.” Five said, “I’m not particularly sorry about pointing out you can’t read.”

Klaus snorted.

Diego sneered, “You deserved the spoon.”

Diego left the room with Mom right behind him. Five kept behind Klaus up until they both left the room before stepping out.

He glanced at Klaus, “Thanks.”

His brother sighed solemnly, “If I knew getting back my baby brother would be like this, I would have made a spare cocktail.”

“Why are you drinking?” Five asked, “It’s nine in the morning.”

“Yes! And it’s five o’clock somewhere.” Klaus eyed him, “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to drink anything. You were a Class A Alcoholic, my dear brother.”

Five scoffed, “As if I’d let alcohol get in the way of my work.”

“Oh trust me,” Klaus stood up, “You found a way to balance it. So, tell me, why did you tell _mi hermano_ he can’t read?”

“I’ve been looking at dad’s journals…” Five pondered telling the truth, “and I just think Diego would rather hear me insult him than tell him the truth.”

“Well, what’s the truth?”

“He didn’t… he didn’t act right.”

 _“I_ could have told you that.”

“No, not like that,” Five sighed tightly, “He looked at the strangest things. I can’t understand the words now, but when I do, I’ll know more.”

“What do you mean?” Klaus eyed him, “What has he written about?”

“All of us.” Five motioned with his hand vaguely, “One-- Um, _Luther,_ had the least written about him. Diego’s was big, the rest of us were _okay_ , and um… yours was really big.”

Klaus blinked at him, “Like, a full journal?”

“No, like…” He tried to remember how many he read, “I read three of them, but there are a total of six.”

His brother gaped at him like a fish out of water, glancing beside him as if there was somebody there. “Six… _huh?”_

“He had a lot of theories,” Five shifted a bit, “Um, he got one right, I think. The resurrecting. You did that to me.”

Klaus blinked slowly.

“How did I die?” Five asked, a curiosity developing, _“Why_ did I die?”

“We… It’s a story,” Klaus hesitated, “Um… well, you see, what happen was… Well, Luther was telling us all that-”

“Vanya lashed out.” Diego’s voice startled them both, “And she attacked you because you approached her when we all backed away.”

Five looked back at Diego, not allowing a hint of his nervousness show on his face. How long has Diego been listening to them?

“Vanya would never hurt me.” Five said confidently, “She likes me.”

“Yeah, she made that pretty clear in her criminating book.” Diego scoffed, “For half a chapter she wrote about him, wasn’t it?” He looked to Klaus this time.

Klaus made a _I’m not in this conversation_ face.

Five tried to soak up the information. Was that why Vanya was avoiding him? He couldn’t even try to get some alone time with her… he has no idea where she is more often than not.

“Did I say something?” He asked. Had his temperament been too much in that situation? Was _he_ the reason she lashed out? He couldn’t imagine her attacking without a reason.

By the sudden silence of the conversation, he knew it must have been true. He said something unforgivable.

“Shit..!” Five whispered, bristling a bit. What had he said? What would his _old_ self say? “How bad was it?”

“Now, wait, we didn’t say anything,” Klaus tried.

Five suddenly faced the real, burning need to time travel. He could feel it in his fingertips, the pull to reach out for a time not right now. Could he fix what had happened?

 _It’s not unreasonable,_ He considered his chances, _If I try to go now, I can probably get just far enough in time to tell myself to shut up._

“Hey, Five,” Diego approached him, “Nothing bad happened, if that’s what you’re thinking. It was an accident all around. Vanya doesn’t know how to control it.”

“It?” Five asked.

“Oh shit…” Klaus and Diego echoed.

“What fucking book do I have to read to be caught up-to-date?” Five snapped, “None of you told me how I died, none of you told me about the masks, and none of you talk about Dad anymore.”

Diego, by some crazy miracle, did not bristle at the mentioning of their Father.

“He’s dead, not erased!” Five continued, “I’m thirteen, not six! If I can kick some bad guys ass, I can handle whatever bullshit information you all are going to throw at me.”

“Vanya has powers.” Diego said.

Five clicked his mouth shut.

Diego pulled a smug face, which Five guessed he deserved.

“How? When? Why didn’t Dad...?”

“Beats us all. She’s dealing with it on her own, and in case you’re wondering, it was Luther’s suggestion that she stays away from you until she learns to control it.”

Five bristled.

“She agreed to it,” Diego added quickly, “She’s learning with Klaus and Ben. That’s why we don’t see them as often as we usually do.”

“But I’m _fine.”_ Five insisted, “She doesn’t need to hide anymore. I’m okay.”

“We know that, kiddo,” Klaus jumped into the conversation hurriedly, “She just… wants to be sure it won’t happen again. And she’s doing great! God Bless her, really. She’s making more progress than any of us have.”

His mind drifted back to time travel, “If I could just… tell myself to _not_ make the situation worse…”

“No. None of that.” Diego’s voice turned brutal, “You’re not ready for time travel, _remember?”_

Five fought the urge to spacial jump out of the room. Instead, he glared at Diego and grumbled a quick “I’ll talk to you later.” To Klaus before storming out. He’s so _tired_ of Diego telling him what he’s not ready for. He’s beginning to wonder why Diego hates Dad so much. He sure acts a lot like him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in one day... its a miracle, folks!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence in this chapter!

Five thought he’d bother Luther. Luther and Diego weren’t exactly fond of each other, so he figured he’d get a few minutes away from Diego that way. When he found Luther, he was looking through Dad’s office. Five wondered if he was looking for the journals he had taken to his bedroom the night prior.

“What’re you doing?” He asked, sitting next to Luther while he flipped through an album. He tried to look over Luther’s arm, but Luther was _way_ too big for him to see over.

“Dad sent me to the moon for a reason, and I-”

“You went to the _moon?”_ Five asked, eyes widening, “Really? What happened? Are aliens real?”

How could Luther _not_ tell him about that? Was this old news?

Luther seemed extremely surprised by his enthusiasm. Five supposed that none of their other siblings thought it was as cool as it was. He made a noise in the back of his throat and blew out some air, as if trying to gather his thoughts.

“Um… it was boring, y’know?” Luther tipped his head to face him better, “I had a really strict schedule. Wake up at four, watch the earth for a few hours, take samples, send them back… I did it for four years.”

Five supposed his surprise shown on his face because Luther cracked a grin.

“And no, there’s no aliens.” He added.

“Not on the moon, at least.” Five corrected, sitting up on his knees to look at the album in Luther’s hands, “So, what’s in that? Are those the samples?”

“No,” Luther pointed at the pieces of paper, “These are actually our birth certificates. I was just… reminiscing, I guess.”

“You’re too young to be reminiscing.” Five rolled his eyes and sat back on his legs, “What does dad sending you to the moon have to do with anything?”

“Well, I think he did it for a reason.” Luther set the album aside, “Everybody else thinks I’m insane, though. You did too.”

Five frowned, “Why?”

Luther shrugged non-committedly, “I suppose you thought it had nothing to do with the apocalypse.”

“The apocalypse is over now, isn’t it?” He hesitated, _“Isn’t it?”_

“Yeah, Yeah, It’s over Five.” Luther rushed the words out, “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

Something about how much Luther tried to reassure him was suspicious, but he decided to pocket the suspicion for a later date.

“What if Dad sending you to the moon had to do with something else?” Five asked, “What would moon samples do?”

Luther paused, “I don’t know… I never asked.”

Five stifled a sigh. Of course Luther didn’t ask! As much as Luther likes to insist he’s a leader, he’s terrible at actually being one.

“Shame.” He said instead, “That could have been useful.”

Luther stared into space for a second before nodding to himself, “You’re right Five. Thanks!” And he stood up. Five was about to follow him, but Luther was out of the room faster than he could get on his feet.

 _So much for hanging out with him,_ He thought bitterly. He kinda hoped he would get to talk to Luther more.

 _Why did Dad send Luther out on missions like that?_ Five asked himself, _Did the others get cool missions? Was Luther just the most trustworthy? Would_ I _have gotten missions like that?_

Five hesitated at that. Father always praised him for being the most intelligent of the seven, but was he _go to the moon_ worthy? He liked to think that he offered a lot to the team, arguable more than everybody else. If he hadn’t disappeared like they told him he did, would he have gotten that mission instead?

“Five?” Allison’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, “What’re you doing in here?”

Five shrugged, speaking to her without looking at her, “I’m avoiding Diego.”

“Oh, well… he left.”

Five looked back at her, taking in the fact that she was holding onto a suitcase. Immediately, he bolted to stand up.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.” Allison smiled, “I get to see Claire tomorrow.”

“Who’s Claire?” Five bristled a bit, outraged that his sister was putting some stranger above them. How could she leave now? He hasn’t gotten to talk to her, either. Will she be gone forever?

“My daughter.”

Oh. He hadn’t even considered that his siblings had family of their own.

He shifted a bit, trying to gather himself, “How long are you leaving?”

“I don’t live here, Five,” Allison sighed softly, “And… And I have to make my daughter a priority, you understand that, don’t you?”

 _Is it selfish to say no?_ Five asked himself. He just nodded numbly and kept his face neutral.

“Yeah, I do…” He cleared his throat tightly, “What spurred this on? Didn’t you want to be at my side this morning?”

“It was for the _others_ to watch you, Five. Like Klaus. Klaus doesn’t have a lot of responsibilities.” Allison gave a soft, disbelieving laugh, “You aren’t scared of me leaving, are you?”

He bristled, “No, of course not.” He shot her a glare, the urge to jump away from the situation tempting him, “What did the others say about you leaving?”

“Luther understands.” Allison waved her hand.

“What about the others?”

She faltered.

Five nearly scoffed. Figures she prioritizes Luther just as she had done when they were younger. “Would you have even told _me_ if I wasn’t in this room?”

Allison stiffened, “Five-”

He blinked out of the room and to Dad’s liquor cabinets. He figured Klaus would be there, so he would hurry to tattle to him about Allison leaving. If everybody else knew, maybe they could get her to stay, or at least _come back._

When he appeared behind the counter, he did not find Klaus. Instead, he found himself entirely surrounded by people in strange suits and dark, malevolent goggles. They all had guns pointed at him, as if they had _known_ he would appear there.

 _“Oh fuck!”_ Five exclaimed, ducking down just in time for bullets to smash the bottles of alcohol behind him. When the bottles exploded, the liquid drenched him and the glass shards caught on his clothes and in his hair.

The assailants wasted no time on approaching him. He barely had enough time to take a breath before he was forced to jump into a different space. _Any_ space that wasn’t in the trajectory of those bullets.

Turns out, _any place_ meant in the same room, just behind the couch. He quickly grabbed at his mouth, stifling his hard breathing and remained as still as possible.

Who were these people? Why were they here? Were they robbers?

Five squeezed his eyes shut in favour of listening to their boots stomp against the floor while they scattered to all parts of his home. His home that is currently filled with at _least_ three of his siblings. He has to fight back, and fast, or else they’ll find someone defenseless like Klaus.

 _What are they after?_ Five asked himself. He remembered back to what his siblings told him, about how people were after him, and then thought back to what Luther had said earlier that day. People in _masks_ were after him.

Well, these guys had masks. Were they after him?

 _Only one way to find out._ Five thought.

He blinked to the kitchen, grabbing one of the kitchen knives. If he was an assassin, he should have a few of those assassin moves memorized by heart, shouldn’t he? So he should be able to do just fine out there while his siblings figure out they’re under attack and get the hell out. He could handle these guys. Guns weren’t new, and he has something none of his enemies do.

A really fucking great power.

He blinked back to where he last saw them. Two of the men stayed back, staring around blankly. At least, they were until Five appeared. He immediately swapped their guns for the pillows on the couch. Normally, he would indulge himself in his enemies confusion before knocking them out cold, but he had a lot of people to deal with.

He jumped to the couch, grabbing one of the guns and aimed it at their knees.

“How do you work this thing?” Five asked. One of the men made a move at him, falling like a sack of potatoes when Five pulled the trigger and lodged a few bullets in his leg.

“Oh.” He said, “Like that.” He didn’t actually _mean_ to shoot him!

“Sorry.” He glanced apologetically at the man on the floor as he seethed from his pain. The other one seemed to think better than to approach him, staying stiff and keeping his arms raised.

“How do you take the bullets out?” He demanded from the un-shot one.

The man dipped his head, as if not understanding his question.

“Tell me how to take the bullets out or I’ll unload the rest of them on you.” Five threatened.

“You pull the cartridge out.”

That tells him nothing. Five aimed the gun.

“The bottom of the barrel!” The guy exclaimed, hurrying through his words, “The rectangle that sticks out from the neck of the gun! That!”

Five pulled it off, then threw them both in opposite directions. He grabbed the second gun, aiming it back at him, “Now tell me why you’re here.”

“We’re here to eliminate the threat.” The man said, “Against the order of time, the apocalypse.”

Five frowned, “Who’s the threat?”

“One, Two, Three, Four, Five Hargreeves.”

_Oh._

“Why?” He asked, “Who ordered you to stop it?”

Something _clicked_ audibly behind his head and Five realized a little too late that the conversation was just a diversion.

He jumped, landing in Father’s study. A sharp pain made him cry out and he hurried to sit up and dislodge whatever had stabbed him in the side. When he pulled back the kitchen knife he had stolen to protect himself, he cursed.

“Great.” Five groaned, tossing the knife aside and grabbed the gun he had took with him.

Maybe he does need his siblings help.

The sound of gunfire brought him back to reality. Oh great, they found someone. He jumped to where it was, wincing back when he realized that it was downstairs and they were firing rounds at Luther and Klaus, both of which were hiding behind a pushed-over pool table.

A rage built up inside him. How _dare_ they threaten his family. He brought the gun up, this time not hesitating with shooting them where it counts; their heads.

Their armor seemed to be for looks more than anything; the bullets went clean through them. He snuffed out the five that surrounded them easily.

“Are you two okay?” He asked.

Luther and Klaus peeked over the pool table. Luther looked stunned and Klaus’s eyes were round with freight.

“Did you kill them?” Luther asked.

Five bristled, “Your _welcome.”_

He jumped around the house. He killed any intruder he passed by, up until all twelve of them were gone. He didn’t find Allison, which worried him to a degree, but he figured that she could handle herself. Her power, while miniscule in comparison to others, was tremendously helpful in self-preservation scenarios.

Five ended up collapsing against into a recliner and closing his eyes. He _knew_ he should handle his self-induced stab wound, but he didn’t have the energy to move anymore. Even jumping to his siblings seemed out of the question.

“Five? Five, where are you?” _Ah, there’s Allison!_

“Are you still going back to Claire?” Five asked condescendingly.

“Oh, shut up,” Allison’s voice was much closer now, “What did you do? Did you-- You’re bleeding!”

Five peeled his eyes open, squinting at her before looking at Klaus and Luther. They all looked fine, which was a win. He wonders why they didn’t jump into fighting like he did.

 _Oh, right,_ Five thought, _Diego is the only one who kept doing superhero work._

“You’re all horrible at-” Five winced as he tried to sit up, “-being any help, you know that, right?”

“How’re you doing, Five?” Klaus was by his side, pressing a hand into Five’s wound despite his cursing. “Hey, don’t make me make you eat some soap. I’m tryna help you. What happened?”

“One of them stabbed me.” He lied, because it’s too embarrassing to admit that he actually ended up stabbing himself.

“We’ll find mom. Klaus, can you-?”

“I know what to do.” Klaus said with such certainty that Five wasn’t sure what to think of it, “Go on.”

“How do you know what to do?” Five asked, helping Klaus take off his clothes.

Klaus shushed him, reclining the chair and pushing him onto his back. “You can’t talk while your stabbed. It’s like, a thing.”

“No it’s not!”

“Yeah, it is! One hundred percent of people who talk when they’re stabbed _were stabbed.”_ Klaus smirked at him teasingly.

Five wheezed out a laugh before wincing, “Not to sound like a thirteen year old, but it’s starting to hurt a lot.”

“We’ll get you stitched up, old man.” Klaus patted his knee, holding his hand and a torn piece of clothing (when did he do that?) firmly to Five’s wound, “You’ll have another cool scar like the one on your shoulder.”

“Oh, great.” Five closed his eyes again, “I’ll start looking like a tally board…”

“Hey,” Klaus’s voice pitched a bit, “Don’t close your eyes. Doctor Klaus’s orders. Stay awake, Five. _Five!”_

He had to force himself to open his eyes, “Why?”

Klaus just shifted in closer, “Just stay with me, ‘kay?”

“M’not going anywhere, I got _stabbed.”_ Five grumbled, “What’s Ben doing?”

“He’s freaking out. Can’t believe our little brother took out twelve people.”

“Why’s that unbelievable?” Five asked, “I’m ten times stronger than Luther.”

Klaus laughed, “Yeah? Take a wager on that?”

“Only to see Luther’s face when I beat him in arm wrestle.” Five laughed, then winced and hurried to grip at Klaus’s wrist. “Don’t press so hard.”

“Sorry,” Klaus said, “I need to… Fuck, where are they? How long does it take to track down Mom?”

Five watched Klaus looked beside himself, then scoff and roll his eyes.

“No, I don’t. Yeah? How many bleeding brothers do you think are around here?”

Five frowned, scrunching up his face in confusion.

“Hey, Klaus?”

Klaus looked at him.

“Those men were here to keep…” Five tried to remember what they said, _“the order of time…_ Who were they?”

Klaus frowned, “I dunno, Five…” He brought up a smile, seemingly out of nowhere, “but you sure showed them, didn’t you?”

Five didn’t smile, but he did scoff a bit and leaned his head back, “I wish I knew more, Four…”

He realized after a few seconds that he called him by the wrong name. He was about to correct himself, up until Klaus pushed hair out of his face and said, “You’ll learn, Five.”

Yeah, he hopes he will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four and Five being best friends makes more sense than anything in the world change my mind


	7. Chapter 7

Things moved fast after Mom started to stitch him up. Allison and Luther kept questioning him and Klaus was at his defense through it all. Five was grateful for it.

“What happened?” Allison demanded while Five tensed as their Mother stabbed a needle through him again.

“Give the kid a break,” Klaus’s hand on his knee tightened, probably to help him focus off the pain, “He just got stabbed  _ and _ saved us. Isn’t it Diego’s job to interrogate?”

“Would you rather have him here?” Allison glared.

_ Am I in trouble? _ Five thought,  _ It feels like I’m in trouble.  _

“Five, we need to know what happened.” Luther said, voice a lot softer than how everybody else was speaking around him. Five sort of appreciated that, because if that’s anything, it’s a semblance of their brotherhood. Although, he didn’t like how it implied he couldn’t handle a tense situation.

“I went to Dad’s bar to find Klaus.” Five started, “When I blinked there, those men were around me.”

“That’s why you’re covered in Dad’s favourite gin?” Klaus laughed a bit. Five would have hit him had he not found Klaus’s close presence calming.

“I got to ask them who they were…” Five decided to skip the details, “They said they were there to protect _ the order of time… _ And then I found Luther and Klaus and figured that the quickest way to handle it was…”

“To murder them.” Luther finished for him.

“They were  _ bad guys,” _ He felt like to needed to defend himself, as if Luther was going to punish him, “They shot up the house!”

_ Ben kills people all the time!  _ Five thought,  _ Why am I suddenly in trouble for it? _

Allison and Luther shared a look. Five didn’t know what to think of it, but it made him bristle in rage. He wants to leave, to go back to the donut shop and hang out with the nice lady who gave him a free donut.  _ She  _ wouldn’t judge him for saving his siblings lives.

“There!” Mom chirped from beside him, placing a bandage (with a Hello Kitty print) on his stitches, “All better, sweetie.” 

“Thanks.” Five sat up, brushing aside Klaus’s hand in favour of climbing off the recliner. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Yeah, go for it.” Klaus encouraged, “Talk later?”

Five shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the living room. He still didn’t have enough energy to blink away.

* * *

“What are you guys trying to do to the kid?” Klaus rounded on his other siblings once Five left the room, “Are you kidding me? Interrogating a thirteen year old?”

_ I can’t believe I have to be the adult here!  _ Klaus thought incredulously.

“Take it easy,” Ben said to him, “your hands are glowing.”

_ Were they? _ Klaus quickly hid them in his pockets.

Allison sighed tightly, “I just… I was scared, okay? When I found you two downstairs with five dead guys, I didn’t want to believe Five had done it…”

A silence settled between them. 

“Did he even  _ hesitate _ to do it…?” Luther asked, “I remember Five being… not…”

Klaus knew what they were trying to say. He knew that Allison and Luther were worried that deep down, Five was always a killer, but that is their  _ brother.  _ He wasn’t killing for sport, he did it to protect them.

But maybe deep down, they all were scared of the day Five got his memories back. Were they worried that their brother was regaining his memories?

Ben’s hand phased through him, “Klaus, you gotta respond.”

“Five is our brother and he saved us.” Klaus repeated himself, keeping his voice calm, “Those were bad people, trying to hurt us or even kill him. What would you have done?”

* * *

After his shower and getting dressed, Five quite literally collapsed against his own bed. He’s tired and his stomach hurts, an ache he knows comes from the fact that he had not eaten in a while. He decided to let it hurt.

Did he act a little harshly? Nobody had directly berated him for killing, but there was a tension in the air that he could work off of.

_ No,  _ Five scolded himself,  _ now is not the time to contemplate morals. _

The men who were in his home were protecting  _ the order of time.  _ He also knew of two other people who used the same job description. Hazel and Cha-Cha.

He looked to where he hid their card away, contemplating for a few seconds before forcing himself to stand and snatched it out. He’s going to call them, he has to. But the phone is downstairs and he can’t risk letting his siblings know what he’s up to.

Not yet, at least.

_ So, what can I do?  _ Five thought.

He can’t tell them he’s leaving, that will make them want to follow him. He also promised on trying better about disappearing.

“Technically,” Five glanced at his old journals, “leaving a note… counts as telling them.”

_ That’s absolutely correct!  _ Five praised himself. He made a reach for a journal he knew he hadn’t written in. He got it for his thirteenth birthday from his Mom and he had told himself then that he would only write in it for special things.

When he opened it to the first page, he was extremely surprised to see the entire page full of mathematical equations. He turned to the next, then the next, and the next, until he realized that the entire journal was full of math. He counted how many variables were used (a total of 58) and tried to remember how he did it, but many of the equations were unfamiliar to him.

“What the fuck…?” Five whispered. All of the writing was in his handwriting, so why couldn’t he remember doing it?

The more he looked at them, the more he understood what it was all for. Time travel. These were  _ his own  _ notes on time travel. Five hurried to tuck the journal back where it was, deciding that he’s going to test those equations later. He reached for the other journals, finally finding one with a blank page, and tore it out. 

After writing a quick note, he grabbed the card Hazel had given him and blinked out of his bedroom and to the nearest telephone. 

He ended up stuck inside it with a random smuck. They shared eye contact for a bit before Five narrowed his eyes. 

“I’ll call you back,” The guy said hushly into the phone, setting it down before hurriedly leaving the booth with a quick apology. 

Five rolled his eyes and quickly started the call. 

_ What do I lead with?  _ Five asked himself,  _ Hi this is that kid you met in the donut place. Some people tried to kill me, know anything of it? _

One ring. 

Five took a deep breath and squeezed the card between his fingers. Why’s he so anxious?

Second ring. 

_ This was a bad idea.  _ Five stifled a sigh,  _ I should have just asked Klaus to talk to dad. _

Just when he told himself to hang up, a woman answered the phone. It wasn’t Cha-Cha. 

“Hello, Five. We’ve been waiting your call.” 

“Who’s this?” Five asked, “I’m looking for Hazel, I have questions.”

“Hazel’s here. Let’s set up a date, hm? Tomorrow, 9, at Griddy’s Doughnuts?”

“What’s your  _ name?”  _ Five asked again.

“The Handler. Chao!” 

“Hey, wait—” The line cut dead. He put the phone back up, glowering to himself. 

Well  _ that _ was for nothing!


	8. Chapter 8

Diego just wanted what was best for his little brother.

He’s seen it in Five’s eyes; the hunger to do  _ more.  _ He remembers too vividly how consuming that hunger became a few months after they all turned thirteen. He remembers how fondly their father praised him, using Five as a learning opportunity rather than become concerned over his new obsession with his powers.

Of course, the bastard was so obsessed with pushing them all to their limits that he must have been relieved to finally have a willing participant. 

But even Diego knew it would come back to bite them all. Whatever Five felt like he needed to do, it was all-consuming, and it nearly got them all killed when Five tried testing the extent of his powers on them.

The final straw for father was clearly time travel. The old man knew something nobody else did, and it became common place for Five to fight him for the right of practicing his powers. Up until he disappeared.

Diego really does not want to lose his brother again.

That’s why he’s so tough on him now. But maybe it had been too much? Five had mentioned not wanting to be around him. Why were they not as close as they had been when Five was 58?

And why was  _ Klaus  _ suddenly the favourite brother? It’s not like he’s the one who’s driving around with an angry Luther looking for the brat.

. . .

“One more time.” Klaus said, trying not to let his exhaustion show, “Let’s try… um… okay, I’m going to hum. Do  _ not _ slice my throat.”

Vanya’s cheeks flushed, “I wouldn’t do that!”

Klaus shrugged his shoulders dramatically, “Hey, you never know, okay? Just try to use the sound and move the vase. Got it?”

“No, but do it anyway.” His darling sister sighed tightly, focusing on the glass vase with such raw intensity that Klaus nearly laughed. It reminded him a lot of the children that used to come by their home, insisting they had powers.

He started humming  _ I want it that way  _ by Backstreet Boy. It’s a classic fucking song and the most inspirational one he knows. Vanya  _ has _ to accomplish something with it.

“Really?” Ben groaned, sprawling out on Vanya’s couch, “Hum some Lady Gaga, you fake gay.”

Klaus shot a quick glare Ben’s way, then focused back on Vanya. If he could respond, he would totally demolish Ben in the gay liberty that is Brian Littrell and his iconic vocals. 

“I can’t do it, Klaus.” Vanya groaned, “It’s pointless. How am I ever going to control something like  _ not _ hurting our brother if I can’t even move a vase?”

Klaus stopped humming, quickly reaching out to squeeze his sister’s shoulder encouragingly. “You can do it, Van’. You said you felt a burst of emotion, right? Maybe we’ve been trying to control it all wrong. Maybe you gotta get mad, or something.”

Vanya looked at him in alarm, “Get  _ mad?” _

Klaus shrugged.

“No,” She shook her head, “I can’t. I won’t be able to control myself. Maybe I should go back on those pills, I shouldn’t have ever stopped them-”

Klaus quickly shook his head, mumbling out a quick  _ No, no no no. _ “Vanya, you’re not going to end up like me, okay? You’re not going to use pills to escape your powers. You’re too smart for that. Now, what if you try making the noise? Yeah?”

Vanya glanced at him, then sighed. “I can’t sing.”

“Oh please,” Klaus laughed, “I hardly sound like a Madonna, just try a little jingle.  _ Like a good neighbor, State farm is there!” _

Shit you not, his phone started ringing just as he finished the sentence. He and Vanya shared a look of great shock before he decided to pick it up and answer. He put it on speaker phone, just because he knew Vanya didn’t like being kept out of the loop.

“Hullo?”

“Klaus,  _ please _ tell me Five is with you.” Ah, Luther.

“Five is with me.”

_ “Really?!” _   


“No.” Vanya beat him to the punch, “Five’s not around. Why?”

“God dammit, Klaus!” Diego?

“Wow, it’s just a whole party!” Klaus said excitedly, “How’re you, Diego? Job treatin’ you well? I can’t believe you traded me for Luther as a backseat host!”

“Klaus, shut the fuck up! We can’t find Five.”

Vanya and he shared a look.

“Did they check the park?” Ben asked.

“Did you check the park?”

“Yeah,” Luther sighed tightly, “he’s not there.”

“What about the donut shop?” Ben sat up.

“What about the donut shop?” Klaus parrotted. 

Silence.

“We’ll check there now.” Diego grumbled and the call ended abruptly. 

“You’re welcome!” Klaus shrieked despite knowing only Vanya and Ben would hear. “Man, brother’s, amirite?” Vanya did not seem to think he was funny.

“Five’s missing.” She breathed in, “Do you think it’s because of what happened yesterday? What if those people got him?”

Klaus tried to push down his bubbling concern. He worried for Five too, but Five’s  _ always  _ disappeared to do his own thing. He always came back in top shape. 

“He’s going to be fine.” Klaus said.

Ben’s hand waved in front of his face, “Hey, someone’s coming up the stairs.” 

“What does that matter?” Klaus groaned, looking at his brother, “Tell me when the pizza guy comes, how’s that?”

Ben rolled his eyes, “He looks freaked out.”

“Do you think he can see dead people too?” Klaus pretended to look scandalized.

Vanya cleared her throat, “Um, what’s Ben saying?”

“Oh, one thing or another about someone coming up the stairs.”

As if on cue, there was a rapid succession of knocks on Vanya’s front door.

“It’s not the pizza guy.” Ben glanced pointedly at Klaus.

Klaus hissed at him.

Vanya went to open the door anyway. Once it was opened, some random smuck bursted through. Tall fella (not as tall as Klaus, thank God), dorkishly cute, broad shouldered, and with a funny wisp to his hair that Klaus kinda wanted to play with.

“Er, Vanya, Is… You said there-” The man cut off with a startled look at Klaus.

“Oh, Leonard,” Vanya breathed, “You gave me a freight.”

An awkward silence settled in. Klaus had no idea who this Leonard guy was, but with how much eye fucking they were doing, he guessed they knew each other well enough.

Vanya made a noise of realization, “Sorry! Um, Klaus, this is Leonard. Leonard, this is my brother Klaus.”

“Not a burglar?” Leonard whispered, “Because if he is, I’ll go next door for help.”

“I’m not a burglar.” Klaus stated, and just to prove his innocence, he motioned towards Ben, “Ask that guy.”

Leonard glanced in the direction he pointed, then looked to Vanya in distress.

“He can’t see me.” Ben said.

“Oh, right. Well, he says-”

“He’s the one that sees dead people.” Vanya explained.

“The Umbrella thing!” Leonard exclaimed in realization, “Oh, that makes so much more sense.”   


Klaus kinda liked this guy.

“What can we do for you, Leonard?” He asked, “We’re practicing here.”

“Oh, sorry,” Leonard didn’t seem to know who to focus on. He ended up looking at Vanya, “I think I saw your brother. But, that can’t be right, right? He went missing all that time ago.”

Vanya and Ben looked right at Klaus, as if he had something to do with this coincidence. 

He dramatically looked behind himself, as if they were all staring at something past him, then turned to Vanya and shrugged.

Vanya looked back at Leonard, “Where? Where did you see him?”

“Well, I was talking to my Nan,” Leonard looked a little embarrassed about this fact, “When this kid appeared out of nowhere in the telephone booth. I was pretty sure I was hallucinating, because he looked  _ just  _ like your brother… Ted, was it?--” Klaus had to slap a hand over his mouth before he laughed too hard, “-- and then… I just left. He looked like he wanted to be on the phone.”

“Can you take us there?” Vanya asked.

“Yeah,” Klaus bit his lip to keep in his cackle, “I would like to see where Ted has gone.”

Even Ben started to crack up at that point.


	9. Chapter 9

Everything after the phone call was anticlimactic to Five. He was personally frustrated that he didn’t get through to Hazel like he hoped he would and instead got a random lady on the line that set up a meeting with him, as if they were friendly business partners.

He ended up walking around the city just because he didn’t want the whole mission to be a waste. He waved at a few people while he walked, mostly because they either smiled at him or pointed at him, as if they knew him. One guy in particular made eye contact with him, paled, and ran away. He looked like a doctor.

 _Guess I’m not famous with the medical field,_ Five thought.

He figured that made sense. After all, he did end up killing a few men in the household. He wondered how his family dealt with the bodies. Maybe Luther crushed them into tiny flesh balls and threw them into the incinerator.

The idea made Five cringe and laugh nervously at the same time.

At one point, he passed an old store. A woman was walking out, a mannequin in her arms that looked like it’s seen better days. Five wondered vaguely what in God’s name had happened to it. The lady, just as she was about to toss the mannequin into a trash can entirely too small for it, made eye contact with him.

“Hey,” She gawked, “It’s you!”

Five almost looked behind himself just to make sure it was him she was talking to, but he knew by the way she pointed at him that it _must_ be him.

“Do you want this back?” She asked, lifting the mannequin up, “You dropped it off three days ago, remember?”

 _No,_ Five thought, _I don’t._

“Um…” He rocked on his heels, eyeing the mannequin. It looks old and torn up. What could he do with it? Nothing. It would serve no purpose, except creep the fuck out of himself.

* * *

Five ended up setting it down beside him while he sat on the sidewalk. He scored a free ice cream from a nice Grandma after he helped her cross the street, so he was eating away at that while trying to figure out how he would explain to his siblings that he picked up a random mannequin.

“What do I even _do_ with a mannequin?” He asked aloud, eyeing it.

 _Her,_ his brain corrected automatically.

He decided to just focus on his ice cream and not the odd familiarity of the situation he was in. Why did he have a mannequin with him before he lost his memories? What was she for? Did she hold secrets to his past?

 _Does she know what the commission is?_ He wondered.

“Do you know what the commission is?” He asked her, grinning to himself at the obscurity of the situation.

She just stared on.

“Do I gotta name you?” He asked nobody in particular, “I guess I do…”

 _What do you name a mannequin?_ Five frowned. He never was great at names… maybe Klaus would have a name he could borrow until he figured out a good one?

Just as he took the last bite of his ice cream, a car horn blasted just a few feet away from him, in the street. Five squinted, trying to look past the tinted windows. The passenger window rolled down.

“FIVE!” Luther yelled from the car, “Get over here!”

Five considered jumping away just to avoid getting yelled at.

“Why?” He asked instead.

“Is that Dolores?” Luther got a look on his face, “Where did you find her? What are you doing here?”

 _Dolores._ Five looked at her, considering the name. Yeah, that’s a pretty good name. He grabbed Dolores by the arm, dragging her along while he walked to the car and climbed in the back seat.

And of course, his luck being the way it is, It figured that Diego was the one driving.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Diego demanded angrily as he hit the gas, “You scared the hell out of us, you know that, right?”

“I helped a lady cross the street?” Five said, phrasing it like a question despite the fact they he knew it happened. Maybe he just hoped it would get him out of trouble.

“Really?” Luther looked back at him, as if he couldn’t believe Five had a helpful bone in his body, “Huh… good job.”

He did _not_ preen at Luther’s praise. That’s stupid and not something a very adult 13 year old would do.

“Pay attention, Number One,” Diego grumbled before raising his voice, “Five, you said you wouldn’t leave without telling us, remember?”

“I left a note on the bed!” Five defended himself quickly. He did! It’s not his fault if his brother’s were too stupid to read.

Silence.

Luther got a sheepish look on his face, “Oh…”

Diego sighed through his nose loudly, “Just call Klaus and tell them we found him.”

“Klaus is looking for me?” Five asked. Where’s Klaus? He wants to be with him! Klaus is a lot more fun than Diego or Luther.

Diego huffed, “Yeah, we _all_ were!”

Luther raised his phone up and Five flinched away at the ringing noise.

 _“That’s loud.”_ Five wrinkled his nose, “Where’s it connected to?”

“Oh shit!” Diego exclaimed suddenly, “You haven’t seen an iphone!”

“Eye-phone…?” Five echoed.

Suddenly, Klaus’s voice was in the car.

“Hey, Luther! Are you calling to ask if we found Five? Because we hadn’t. But, we have a lead!”

Five stared at the phone in alarm, leaning away and scooting closer to Dolores. He nearly forgot that it’s been at _least_ fifteen years, so obviously there would be new technology. He just didn’t know something as insignificant as phones would be updated along with it.

“We already found him.” Luther said, “And don’t say anything, uh, _crazy,_ you’re on speaker and he’s _thirteen.”_

“I wasn’t going to say at a Gay bar! Hi, Five! We were just on our way to that telephone booth our friend saw you in. Remember the one?”

Five does. He nodded, just incase Klaus could see him.

“Sure would be a shame if you were to just disappear out of that car, huh?”

 _Oh!_ Five thought. Four was trying to hint at him to leave.

He held on tightly to Dolores while Diego and Luther frantically tried to talk him out of it, shouting over each other like it was a contest. He jumped anyway.

 

 

Five ended up falling flat on his butt because of the way he jumped. Dolores landed hard right beside him and he swore that his jaw clicked because of how hard he hit the ground.

“I need to practice that.” He mumbled, staggering to his feet and stumbling out of the telephone booth he teleported into. He kept Dolores close, trying to comfort himself enough to calm down from the sudden spatial jump. His head hurt and he felt like he swallowed a bunch of cotton.

He hasn’t felt that strong of side effects for a long time. Maybe it’s because he has Dolores with him this time. Maybe the jump took a little more than he thought.

He made a mental note about it.

“Five!”

Five perked up, searching the sidewalk for his brother. Once he saw him, he hurried to meet him halfway, “Four!”

Klaus didn’t seem to mind the fact that he didn’t used his name. Instead, his brother grinned cheekily and squeezed his shoulder. “I knew you’d ditch the prudes for us!”

“I found Dolores.” Five declared, raising her up to prove it.

Klaus didn’t seem surprised, which struck Five as odd. He looked to her and turned uncharacteristically polite, “Hi, Dolores! Long time, no see.”

“She can’t talk.” Five reminded him.

Klaus got this look in his eye that told Five different. That kinda scared him. Could mannequins talk? Can _Dolores_ talk? He shook the thoughts out of his head, deciding to just focus on the fact that he was with his brother again.

“Who’s _us?”_ He asked.

Klaus pointed behind him, “Oh, just me, Ben, our lovely sister, and some guy.”

Five looked away from Klaus to peer at the other two behind him. It was the guy he saw earlier in the phone booth and _Vanya._ He almost hoped he meant Allison, because that would mean she didn’t leave.

“Hi, Vanya.” He greeted nervously, waving his hand at her. It was strangely awkward to see her; only because he knew she had killed him and he probably deserved it. Was she still mad at him?

“Hi, Five.” Vanya smiled, as if she didn’t feel any of the awkwardness he did.

Klaus tapped his shoulder, “Five! This guy is Leonard.”

Five spared him a glance, “Hi, Leonard.”

Leonard made a face of bemused confusion, “Hi, um, Five.”

He squinted at the man, holding Dolores closer and then looked back to Klaus. “It’s been a day.”

“You’re telling me.” Klaus sighed.

“What did you guys do?”

“Well, Vanya wouldn’t sing for me, so I _guess_ we’re gonna have to practice her powers alternatively.” Klaus looked back at his sister fondly.

Five glanced at Vanya, then back at Klaus, “She plays the violin, why not try with that?”

Klaus’s face lit up. Before Five could register what was happening, his shoulders were being squeezed and Klaus was shaking him with a gleeful laugh. “See! I knew that brain of yours would be helpful!”

“Klaus!” Vanya exclaimed.

Five ended up dropping Dolores just so he could hold his head to stop it from shaking when Klaus let him go. “You could have given me Shaken Baby Syndrome.”

“Oh, whatever,” Klaus waved his hand, “C’mon, kiddo, you can come with us back to Vanya’s apartment. Leonard!” Klaus turned on his heels, approaching the (very much startled) man and made a show of kissing each of his cheeks. Five wondered vaguely if this was just normal Klaus behavior or if he was trying to scare off the normie.

“Thank you for helping us find our brother.” Klaus said, “Now, finish that call with your Nan.”

“Sure,” Leonard said, “Uh, thanks…”

Five grabbed Dolores by her hand, rushing to follow Klaus because he apparently decided it was okay to just walk away without warning. Vanya stayed behind, sharing quiet words with Leonard before sprinting to catch up with them.

“Am I allowed to be with you guys?” Five asked, fixing Dolores to tuck her under his arm, “Diego told me-”

Klaus made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, “I think having you around would help her.”

Five didn’t understand what implication that meant. Maybe she was _really_ mad at him, so Klaus wanted to see if she could use her powers with him around. He mentally prepared himself to use Dolores as a shield.

“Anything fun happen while you were out here?” Klaus asked.

“I helped a lady cross the street.”

“Hey!” His brother brightened, “That’s something! Oh, uh, Ben’s asking why you were trying to call from the telephone booth?”

Five bristled, “Tell Six to shove it.”

Klaus looked to his other side, “He said shove it.”

Five smiled to himself, because he’s pretty sure Ben is either fuming or laughing at his response and he almost doesn’t want to know which one it is.

Klaus looked back at him with a grin, “Ben says he’d kick your ass if he could.”

Five laughed.


End file.
